Ed Masterson embarassing the FAA Administrator in front of the Senate Aviation Subcommittee

This is where FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt admits that ED MASTERSON VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW - The Whistleblower Protection Act.

Merit Systems Protection Board says Ed Masterson violated the law.

It's time to FIRE ED MASTERSON FROM THE FAA

FAA head admits mishandling case of Newark airport whistle-blower


Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 8:00 PM Updated: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 10:02 PM


By Mike Frassinelli/The Star-Ledger


NEWARK -- The head of the Federal Aviation Administration admitted to U.S. senators today that his agency mishandled the case of an air traffic controller who was booted from the control tower after raising concerns about dangerous runways at Newark Liberty International Airport.

It was an unusual admission for the head of a powerful federal agency, but FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt went even further. He said the FAA has set up an office where whistle-blowers can raise concerns without the fear of being fired.

Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger

A Dec. 4 photo of Ray Adams, who spoke out against runway concerns at Newark Liberty International Airport.

For Newark air traffic controller Ray Adams, Babbitt’s testimony before a Senate subcommittee on aviation safety amounted to a national vindication of his long solitary battle against the agency.

"When someone raises a question and they have to ‘blow a whistle’ to get the
information to us, we’ve already had a breakdown, we’ve already had a slip
in the system," Babbitt said. "If people bring us safety things, we should
be dealing with them — and I want these handled differently."

The remarks followed aggressive questioning by U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who said he didn’t want to hear again about air traffic controllers having their jobs threatened for raising safety concerns. A story on Adams and his struggles with the FAA appeared in Sunday’s Star-Ledger.

Adams two years ago complained about the runway intersections at Newark Liberty. From the control tower, he watched near-crashes and saw pilots befuddled by changing flight operations.

The FAA removed Adams from the control tower on what he said was a trumped-up charge of "not following orders." Meanwhile the agency tried to keep landing patterns status quo at the runway intersections.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/faa_head_admits_mishandling_ca.html